Block-machine.



c. s. warn. BLOCK MACHINE. "memo mznjza. is. .1916.

Patentedsept. 4,1917;

4 SHEETS-SHEET I ghvcr vllsw C. S. WERT.

c. s. WEI-1T.

BLOCK MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- l8. I916.

Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Qf'LWERT.

c. s. WERT. BLOCK MACHJNE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. UL 1916- Patented Sept; 4, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H [Hullr I.

GYRUS S. WERT, OF KENDALLVILLE, INDIANA.

BLOCK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 191 '7.

Application filed February 18, 1916. Serial No. 79,172.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, CYRUs S. l/VERT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kendallville, in the county of Noble and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Block-Ma chines;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machines for making or forming concretebuilding blocks, and the primary object of the invention is to provide aconcrete building block forming machine known as a face down machine,which is simple in construction, easy to 0p crate, durable and which hashorizontally disposed corers for coring the blocks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine as specifiedwhich includes a movable hopper for retaining the surplus concrete,after a block is finished, and to mount a rear platform upon themachine, over which the hopper is moved, for placing the concrete in aposition to be used upon the repeating of the operation of the machine,and further to provide a novel form of lever, which is connected to afoot treadle and the hopper for moving the hopper forward over the blockforming molds.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a stripper orfinisher, which is secured to the forward lower edge of the hopper, forfinishing or troweling the top of the block upon the rearward movementof the hopper, and to adjustably connect the stripper or finisher to thehopper, so that the position of the same thereon may be regulated, asdesired.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a concreteblock forming machine, a mold which has its ends and forward sideshingedly connected, for outward move ment for facilitating the removalof the block from the mold, and also to provide stops or supportingbrackets upon the forward surfaces of the forward supporting legs of themachine for engaging and supporting the front hinged side of the mold ina horizontal position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a skeleton framefor the molds,

which is constructed for facilitating the changing or attachment ofmolding or shape the forming of blocks therein, eliminating formation ofthe blocks.

With the foregoing and other objects in View this invention consistsinsuch novel features of construction, combination and arrangementofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure lis a perspective view of the improved concrete block forming machine,

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the machine, showing the hopper in arearward position,

Fig. 3 is a section through the concrete block forming machine,

Fig. 4 is a section through one of the corers,

Fig. 5 is a detail View of the levers used for operating the hopper andthe corers,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the machine, showing a part of the frontside of the hopper and the front plate of the mold,

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 6, v

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the end forming or molding block,and

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective View of one of the side plates of themold.

the necessity of replacing the plate after the Referring moreparticularly to the drawings, l designates the supporting structure ofthe block machine, which is composed of side plates 2 and 3. The sideplates 2 and 3 each have front and rearlegs 4c and 5, which i A crossbar 10 is pivotally secured to the forward upper corner of the sides 2and 3 by pivot pins 11, and it has a skeleton plate or door 11 securedthereto, which skeleton door has a bar 12 secured to the inner surfacethereof, upon which a form plate 13 rests, for forming one side of theconcrete block. A bottom plate 15 is positioned between the front boardor plate 13 and the rear plate 16. The rear plate 16 is secured to thesupporting structure of the block machine by lugs 17, which are formedupon the vertical edges of the same.

The skeleton door 11 has longitudinally extending lugs 17 and 18projecting o ut wardly from each end of the same, to wlnch lugs. arehingedly connected skeleton doors 19, by means of bolts 20, whichextend. through the lugs 17 and 1S and through lugs 21 which are formedupon the skeleton door 19. The skeleton door 19 has end forming plates22 secured thereto, by bolts 23, which extend through the skeleton frameand into the plates 22, for removably attaching the plates to theskeleton door 19, for facilitating the interchanging of the plates forforming different style or shaped ends upon the blocks.

The rear vertical plate 16 of the form or mold is provided with aplurality of spaced openings 24, which are provided for IQCQIV: ing thepins 25 formed upon the edges of divider plates 26. Any suitable type ofdivider plate may be employed, for forming different sizes of blocks,such as quarter blocks, half blocks, or three quarter blocks, which aresometimes necessary in building construction.

The plates 13 are removable, so that after a block has been formed, itmay be removed from the machine, upon the plate, and removed to anysuitable place for drying.

The plate 11 is secured to the hinge bar 10 for movement forwardly andinto a horizontal plane, as is shown in Fig. :2 of the drawings, forfacilitating the removal of a block therefrom. ll/hen the plate orskeleton door 11 is moved into a forwardly ex tending horizontalposition, the end skeleton doors 19 are carried therewith, as is shownat the left hand corner of Fig. 3.

Straps or plates 30 are secured to the front surfaces of the forwardlegs l, and they are bent outwardly and upwardly, as is shown at 81, forforming supporting rests for the skeleton door 11, when moved into ahorizontal position. The straps or plates 30 also act as means forlimiting the clownward movement of the skeleton door 11.

The plate 16 has an angle bar 33 secured to the upper edge thereof,which supports a rearwardly extending plate or platform 34;, upon whichthe concrete retaining hopper 35 rests when in a rearward position.

The hopper 35 has its lower end open, and its upper rear and end wallsinclined, for increasing the size of the mouth or upper end of the same,and it has a handle 36 secured to the forward end and extending acrossthe same, which may be used for manually operating the hopper, if it isso desired. a

An angle bar 37 is adjustably connected to the forward side 38 of thehopper and acts as a stripper or finisher for troweling the tops oftheblocks, during the rearward movement of the hopper from over the mold14rupon the plate or'platform Set. The angle arm 37 is provided withspaced slots 39, through which bolts lO extend. Nuts ii are mounted uponthe outer ends of the bolts and are provided for clamping engagment withthe surface of the vertical side of the angle bar 37 for holding thehorizontal section of the angle bar at various elevations above thelower end of the hopper, for

regulating the position of the finisher or stripper.

The hopper 35 has bars 1-3 secured thereto and extending rearwardlytherefrom, which bars have their rear ends connected to a shaft 44. Arms6P5 are also connected to the shaft H and curve downwardly there from,as is shown at 46, having their main body portions positionedparallel-to and beneath the bars 43.

The bars or arms l5 are in turn pivotally connected at H, to levers etS.The levers 48 are loosely mounted upon, a shaft 49, which is rotatablyjournaled in the arcuate rearwardly extending arms 8.

The levers 48 have links 50 secured to their lower ends, which projectoppositely from the shaft 49, to the upper ends of the levers which areconnected to the bars d5. The links 50 are connected to bars 51. Thebars 51 are angled, and they have their rear ends pivotally mounted upona shaft 52, which is carried by the supporting structure or frame 1 ofthe concrete block forming machine. The forward ends of the arms 51 havea treadle 53 secured thereto, which,

to the vertex 54 of the U-shaped member,

of which the bars 51 form legs.

The treadle 53 has contracting spiral springs 55 secured thereto, whichare also secured to the pins 56, used for pivotally connecting the links50 to the levers 48.

The springs 55 are provided for automatically moving the arms 51upwardly upon their pivotal connection, after the treadle has beendepressed manually.

The shaft 49 has an enlarged head 57 mounted upon its outer end, towhich head is connected a lever 58. The lever 58 has a transverselyextending hand grip 59 mount,- ed upon its upper end.

The head 57 is re- 7 movably mounted upon the end of the shaft, so thatthe lever 58 may be removed from connection to the shaft, if it is sodesired.

The shaft 49 has arms 60 and 61 secured thereto, for rotation therewith.The arms 60 and 61 have their upper ends pivotally connected, at 62, tolinks 63. The links 63 are connected to cores 64, which are positionedwithin the coring cylinders 65. The cores 6% have rods 66 secured totheir rear ends, which extend rearwardly through bearing collars 67,that are carried by the supporting straps 68. The supporting strap 68 issecured in any suitable manner to the rear upper end of the supportingstructure l.

The coring cylinders are substantially rectangular shaped in crosssection, having their corners rounded, and they are provided for passagethrough openings 70 and 71, which are formed in the plates 16, forcoring the blocks formed within the mold structure 14. The coringcylinders 65 are mounted in a horizontal plane, for horizontal movementinto the molds, from the rear side of the same. The coring cylinders 65are moved horizontally into the molds 14 by the oscillatory movement ofthe lever 58.

The door skeleton 19 has cars 70 formed thereon, to which are pivotallyconnected locking levers 71. The locking levers 71 have cam lockingsurfaces 72 formed thereon, which are provided for moving into aclamping engagement with the lugs 17 which are formed on the edges ofthe plate 16. r

In forming a concrete block, the various hinged or pivoted doors aremoved into their proper vertical positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 ofthe drawings, and the hopper which is positioned at this time, over theplatform 34, is filled with a concrete mixture. The hopper is then movedover the mold 1 1, and the concrete which falls therefrom into the moldis securely clamped about the bottom of the mold, after which the coringcylinders 65 are moved forwardly, by oscillation of the lever 58. Theproper amount of concrete is then packed about the coring cylinders andwithin the mold to efficiently form a block. After the concrete has beensecurely packed within the mold, the foot treadle 53 is depressed, whichwill move the hopper 35 rearwardly, upon the platform or plate 31.During the rearward movement of the hopper, the lower edge of theforward side 38 of the hopper will scrape or strip the surplus concrete,and the angle bar 37 will trowel the surface, eliminating the performingof these functions by hand. The superfluous concrete is retained withinthe hopper, upon the upper surface of the plate 34, and can be reused,after the block has been removed. For removing the block which has beenformed from the mold, the

65 cylinders 65 are first moved rearwardly, by

oscillatory movement of the lever 58, and

'the end doors are unlocked, by the-moving of the locking levers 71 intoan unlocking position, after which the front plate or skeleton door 11is moved into a horizontal position and the end skeleton doors are movedalso into horizontal positions which permits of the removal of theplates 13 and the block which has been formed therewith. The operationis repeated, upon the forming of other blocks.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings the advantages of construction and of the method of operationof the improved block machine will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art to which this invention appertains and, while in theforegoing description, the principle of the operation of this inventionhas been described together with various features of construction, it isto be understood that certain minor features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical.conditions provided such alterations are comprehended within the scopeof what is claimed.

What is claimed is 1. In a concrete block forming machine, a supportingstructure, a block mold, a plat form secured to the upper rear edge ofsaid block mold, a hopper slidably mounted upon said platform forhorizontal movement over said mold, a plurality of bars secured to saidhopper and extending rearwardly therefrom, a shaft rotatably mounted insaid supporting structure below said rearwardly extending bars,operating levers pivotally mounted upon said shaft, links connectingsaid bars and operating levers together, angled arms operativelyconnected to said levers for operating said levers upon downwardmovement of said arms for moving said hopper forwardly over orrearwardly from said mold, a plurality of horizontally disposed coringcylinders for horizontal movement into said mold, arms rigidly mountedupon said shaft and operatively connected to said coring cylinders, anda hand lever secured to the outer ends of said shaft for rotating saidshaft for moving said coring cylinders into or out of said mold, as andfor the purpose specified.

2. In a concrete block forming machine, a supporting structure, a blockmold, a platform secured to the upper rear edge of said block mold, ahopper slidably mounted upon said platform for horizontal movement oversaid mold, a shaft rotatably mounted in said supporting structure belowsaid mold, means pivotally supported upon said shaft and con nected tosaid hopper for operating the same, a plurality of. horizontallydisposed coring cylinders positioned to one side of the mold forhorizontal movement into said In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

CYRUS S. \VERT.

mold, arms rigidly carried by said shaft and extending upwardlytherefrom, and links connecting the upper portion of said arms and saidcoring cylinders and a lever secured to the outer end of said shaft forr0- tating the same, as and for the purpose specified.

\Vitnesses FRANK ADAM, ANsoN KUEIGEs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

